Wallboard hoist



H. J. NELSON WALLBOARD HOIST March 16, 1954 Filed July 8, 1952 INVENTOR. Ne Zson Henry t7'.

Patented Mar. 16, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT CFFICE WALLBOARD HOIST Henry J. Nelson,l Wilburton, Okla. Application July 8, 1952, Serial No. V297,733

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a hoist for wall board panels.

Among important objects of the invention are to provide a hoist that will be of a generally improved type; will be inexpensive; will be rugged; will be readily portable; easily extended to any of a substantial number of adjusted heights; capable of one-man operation; and automatically but releasably retained in each position to which it is adjusted.

summarized briefly, the invention includes a rollable, box-like, open support frame; an extensible mast carried thereby and formed of a plurality of telescopically related tubular members; drum-and-cable means operatively associated with the several members for adjusting the same between any of various extended positions and a normal inoperative position in which they are telescoped fully within and are coterminous with one another; and fork-like panel support means carried by the uppermost of said members.

Other objects will appear from the following description, the claim appended thereto, and from the annexed drawing, in which like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a hoist formed in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevation in which the mast is extended;

Figure 3 is a top plan view;

Figure 4 is an enlarged section on line 4 4 of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a section, still further enlarged, on line 5 5 of Figure 3; and

Figure 6 is a perspective View of the tubular members of the mast, separated from one another.

A supporting frame Il) is of box-like, open formation, and has a pair of lower longitudinal frame members I2 parallel to and spaced vertically of a pair of parallel, upper frame members I4. At each end of the support frame, a pair of vertical, parallel posts IS is provided, extending between and rigidly secured at their respective ends to the opposite ends of the upper and lower members i2, I6. Upper cross braces I3 are xedly secured at their opposite ends to and extend horizontally between the opposite ends of the upper members Hl, and are also secured to the upper ends of the posts I6. Lower cross braces 28 are xedly joined to and extend between the opposite ends of the lower members I 2,1`said braces 20 extending between and being fixedly attached to the lower ends of the posts I6.

Casters 22 are mounted at the several corners of the frame, at the lower end thereof, to support the same for rollable movement. This permits the frame to be positioned with accuracy below the particular ceiling joists J to which a panel P is to be secured.

Extending horizontally between and xedly connected at its ends to the intermediate portions of the lower f rame members l2 is a mast base plate 24, and xedly attached at its lower end to the medial portion of said plate is a vertically ascending mast designated generally at 26. The mast is disposed centrally of the support frame and is formed of a plurality of tubular members telescoping within one another. These comprise a bottom tubular member 28 into which is telescoped an intermediate tubular member 30, a top tubular member 32 being telescoped into said intermediate member. The bottom member is stationary at all times, being provided at its lower end with an attaching plate bolted or otherwise iixedly connected to the base plate.

As shown in Figures 5 and 6, I form in the bottom tubular member a longitudinal slot 3d that extends fully from end to end of the bottom member. A collar 36 is aflixed to the upper end of the bottom member and is formed with spaced, laterally extended ears between which is rotatably mounted a pulley 38. A cable it is trained about said pulley, and is attached at one end to an attaching element or eye bolt 42 secured to and laterally projected from the lower end of the top tubular member 32. The shank of the eye bolt extends through the slot 34, and also through a slot 44 (Figure 6) formed in the intermediate member 3l] and extending longitudinally of the intermediate member, from its lower end to a location intermediate its ends.

The other end of the cable is wound about a spool 46 having gudgeons journaled in. bearings 4B aligned transversely of the support frame, at the upper end of the frame, adjacent the mast. The bearings 48 are mounted on bearing support bars 5t extending longitudinally of the frame in parallel, spaced relation, said bars 5B being xedly connected at their ends to the respective upper cross braces I8.

A hand crank 52 is attached to the spool as an extension of one of the gudgeons thereof, and secured to the shank of the crank .is a ratchet wheel Ell disposed between dog support arms 55, 58. The arm 5a is straight'and has an opening at one end through which the shank of the crank extends, the arm being bolted at its other end to one of the bars 5B'. The arm 58 is bolted at one end to the arm 56 and is oiset outwardly of the arm 5B intermediate its ends, the other end of arm 58 having an opening receiving said shank. A dog G is pivotally mounted between arms 56, 58 and is weighted to engage the ratchet Wheel against rotation in one direction whenever the cable is to be wound upon the spool for the purpose of extending the mast. When the mast has been extended to a selected extent, the dog engages `tharatclrietwwheelfand will hold the Wheel against rotation in a cable-unwinding direction, until such time as the dog is manually swung out of engagement with the wheel.

It is to be noted that when the mastfisfinfits normal, inoperative position, the several tubular members (Figure 5) Will be fully telescoped within one another, and since they are all ,of thev same length, the overall length of the mast at this time will be no greater than the length of :the-bottom or fixed tubular member. When, however, thefmast isgtobe extendedfqtheruser rotates the erankivclockwiseas shown-by the arorwsin Figures i1,-2, ,and 4. ns ,the cablegis wound upon the spooL'itLwill cause the eye bolt to be f pulled upwardly, longitudinally .offthel slots ,cfg the bottom tubular member and the intermediatefmember. Whenthefeyebolt engages the upper endwall of the slot 1.44,; it will elevatelthe intermediate meinber, 1 coniointlywith vthe top member, which will have already-been extended partly from the intermediate A; member during lthe `inital movement ofy the eye'bolt Ultimately,lthe eye bolt will engage ;againstthe collar 3.6,at the upper limit of itstravel, andthe lmast will now be extended to its-'maximum extent.'- Itis yto be noted, in this connection,.. and is.animportant characteristic of the construction,that the intermediate member, when-extended to itsmaximum extent from the bottom-member, Vwill havel a substantial part of its lengthstill disposed Withinithe bottom member. At the sameitime, thetop member will have a substantial part --of its length disposed within the intermediate member, and thus, the extended mast willlbepossessedof a high degree of frigidity. This result is obtained by reason of the particular formation and relative arrangement of the several tubular members and of the elevating Ameans associated therewith. The eye bolt secured to the lower end'of the top member prevents the vtop member lfrom being extended fully fromtheintermediate member, due to the fact that the-slot 'ofthe intermediate member terminates a substantial distance short ofthe upper end-of the intermediate member. The Yintermediate member, meanwhile, is `still-:telescoped to:

a vsubstantial extent within the bottom member whenthe eye bolt engages against the collar 36 at the upperend of :the bottommember.

Means is provided at the upperend of the top member for supporting a panel Pin position to be nailedv tothe vceiling joists J. V'Io this end, I providea supportrplate 62,'that is iixedly attached to' the-upper end of ithe ltop member, said support plate having.iixedly connectedthereto the 'intermediate portionof a crossmember 64;

To the respective ends of the cross member S, I aiiix the intermediate portions of a pair of elongated, panel support arms Vlili, extending longitudinally of the support frame in spaced, parallel relation. Pads '68 or their Aequivalents are provided upon '.the arms Stato prevent damage to thefpanelslP.

In l:view ofv thedetailed descriptionrwhichhas been provided, a .complete summary .of the Yoperation :appears unnecessary. :It isyfbelievedmainly important to note that the construction is one that permits the device to be readily shifted about, for location at the precise point, below a ceiling, at which the panel is to be nailed up. After the panel has been raised, the single worker performing the operation is enabled to shift the device bodily to locate the panel exactly at the place desired. This is of importance, since panels of this4 type, usually must `belocated in such a manner asgto provide :afgspace of approximately one eighth of an inch between the sides of the ,panel and the panels adjacent thereto, this space being necessary to receive the joint cement used .conjunction with a perforated tape for concealing thejoints between the adjacent panels.

"Once the panel has been so located, the user oan-:rotatefme :crank further, to the extent of one ortwo additional notches of the ratchet wheel,

to-bring the panel intofull engagement with the ceiling joists.

y It is believed-apparent that the invention' is'not necessarily conned to the specic use or `uses thereof described above, since'it' may beutilized for any purposetoiwhich it maybe suited. Nor is the invention to 4be necessarily limited tothe specific construction 'illustrated and, described, since such, construction is only intended tobe illustrative of the principles ofoperationand the means presently devised to carry out` said principles, itbeing considered that vthe invention. cornprehends Aany minor ,change .in construction that may be .permitted,..within the ,scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A hoist for wall board panels comprising a support frame; an --extensible mast; carried thereby and formed of a plurality.ottelescopically related tubular members all-ofwhichare formed to substantially-.the same-lengthand are coterminous in the fully v.telescoperl l positions thereof, `said membersV including a top tubularmember provided at its lower end with a laterally proj ecting attaching element, an intermediatel tubular 'member formed-with-a longitudinal slot extendingvirom its lower end and terminating short of its upper end, Vsaid .attaching element extending through said fslot for elevating the Vintermediate member onextension of theftopimemberla distance sufiicient to engage the attaching element :against the upper terminusigof:thelkslom and arbottom tubular member secured xedly tto l`the support frame and having a longitudinal slot extending for the lfull;lengthzthereoi,.the attaching element extending through thelastenarnedslot Aso as--to be shiftable;longitudinally, thereof on elevationfof the topV and intermediate "1members; a pulley mounted on the upper end of the bottom member; acable-trained about said-,pulley and connected at oneend to the attaching element; and a drum rotatably mounted, on the .support frame vand about .which-,the otherrendof-the cable is wound.

. r. HENRY J NELSON.

References Ctedin the 'filepfbhis patent lUNITED STATES PATENTS Number ,Name Date A'835,671 Foy ',NOV. .13, 1906 A1,418,775 e Brown 'Junev 6, 1922 146851,15!! Y. Austin ,...V .i.." Sept. :25, 1928 22,443,349 Foster June 15,1948 2,1499;005 fSellers.,....,.,.V. Feb. 28, 1950 

